Gessieviolet,
Did you see my "cookie" design for the eBuckets? I wanted you to see it. Here it is. Was VERY easy to make. Only issue I'm running into is waterproofing it, but I'm very close to a product that will handle that, too. So, this weekend, I'll waterseal the 16 "cookies" I have already cut out and outfit my eBuckets for plantout.

GV one sheet of pegboard cost $15 @ Lowes. I can cut 32 cookies from one sheet! But go find the PLASTIC pegboard and you're home free! LMK if and wher you do. Having to track down a reliable waterproofing method is what's holding me up! Linda

Linda, I thought about plastic also, but have no idea where it can be found. I am experimenting with Molamola's suggestion of the colander as the base. It is the easiest construction possible. A 7qt plastic colander ($1) with the solid rim cut off fits exactly into a 5 gallon pickle bucket. The domed shape allows the soil on the sides (holes already on the sides) of the colander to act as wicking. Ii have to see if this allows too much water in plant portion of bucket. All I had to cut hole wise was the hole for the fill pipe and the overflow hole in the bucket. I did put a plastic straw through the bucket hole and a colander hole to keep it open for sure. Since the colander is 7 qt capacity a gallon + fills the reservoir. I put overflow at gallon level so water will be well below top of water platform. We'll see what happens, this may be the way to go. It's fast, easy, and not at all expensive.

Oh NO!!! One of those horrid male things that has a cord, is loud, vibrates violently, is so dangerous, And is something I do not even want to ever see again, even in a photo! Eeeek! I am reborn UN liberated.

(the saw) I am a maniac. I've been forced to do too many 'blue' things. Leave me in my pinkness. Maybe I can buy a colander that exactly fits some bucket half way down...

LOL, don't mind me. I hate power tools. I even hate screwdrivers and pliars.

Molamola your suggestion for using a colander was an excellent one. This evening I made one by this method. (See my post to Gymgirl)
You should be able to get the colander you need and you only have to use a pair of scissors to cut it! Can't wait to see if I run into problems with your suggestion. Thanks for submitting it

So where do we get the plastic colander from and does it replace having to use two buckets and allow us to use one instead? I like the idea of having one bucket instead of two, means I can have more of them right? LOL
joy

Linda, Joy, and mm: I am about to post my construction methods for the colander and bucket set-up. I got the colander at the Dollar Store, the bucket from a restaurant, and the pipe and drinking straw I had. If this wicks like I hope it does, this is the way I am going on my buckets, and yep! use just one bucket.

Here are my assembled components 1-bucket, 1 colander, 1 piece of fill pipe, one drinking straw, and the household scissors my wife doesn't know I have taken from the kitchen.

This shows the bucket assembled and ready to fill. Notice the drinking straw used to keep overflow hole clear. Look closely and you will see the slits I cut in the sides of the colander so it could flex as it was pushed down.

Gessie, I have been reading this thread and it looks like you have a very practical design there.
I have a few questions if you don't mind.
What kind of soil mix do you use? which type of fertilizer? and have you ever grown plants this way using organic fertilizers.
Are you planning to put the cover on the bucket?
Thank you in advance, your method sound simple and easy, I like that.
Josephine.

I'm hooked! I stopped at the dollar store on the way to buy groceries. I bought 3 colanders. On Sunday I picked up a pickle bucket from the grocery store and they're saving me another one. As soon as I get back from Sisters, Oregon (big outdoor quilt show this weekend), we're building one (or two or three).

Marilyn

PS Gymgirl, yesterday I bought the last eggplant at the nursery. Might be too late to get many but I'm going to try. Right now it's in a barrel. It'll go into an Ebucket after they built.

I want to emphasis that I have not at this point grown anything in a bucket made up like this. THIS IS AN EXPERIMENT !!

My concern is the wicking of the water, will it keep soil TOO moist. I don't know, only time will tell.

I use Fafard 3B mixture made up of forest products made for containers; on my boxes I generally use a variety of fertilizers (but feel most comfortable with a 10-10-10 in a strip for continuous feed,)

I may or may not use a cover. In this particular bucket I am transplanting some swiss chard and using a thick layer of pine mulch. I will also fertilize this bucket with weekly feedings of a water soluble (about a quart at a time) poured into the pot--this is the way I treat my containers (not self contained) of flowers. I don't know about organic fertilizers, why not experiment and see. Why don't we all keep the forum posted on our experience with this.

Gessieviolet, I'm willing to be part of the experiment. We have little humidity here so if the potting mix is too wet I'll try removing the cover from the top of the bucket. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

GV help me understand the wick in your design. The colander is inverted, making a "bubble". The potting mix that is at the bottom edges provides the wicking material? How does the wicking mix stay in constant contact with the water? Also could you do some closeups of the notches and slits in the colander? Thanks. Linda

Linda, think in reverse. In the usual system a container of soil with holes in it sits surrounded by water. The holes in the soil vessel allows the mix in the tube to stay saturated as long as there is water in the reservoir and to send water to the soil above it in the bucket.

In this design the water container (which is full of holes) is filled with water and is surrounded by the soil mix which will saturate (in other words, water goes OUT instead of IN) as the water seeks to fill the bucket to the overflow point. My hope is that this does not give too large a wicking effect for the soil in the bucket.

The ridged edge on the colander does not allow it to flex inward as it is pushed into the bucket which is slightly smaller at the bottom (this is so they can stack containers in regular use). I simply make a cut at the (think of clock face) 12-3-6-9 positions so the edge can flex inward. I make "V" cuts (at the 6 and 12 positions) so the stiff edge will be able to fit without crimping against itself and buckling when it is pushed down. Depth of cuts--to first row of holes in colander.

gessieviolet: In your one pic it looks like the colander is collapsing already, is it supposed to do that? And if so, how do you keep the water reservoir seperated from the medium you are using to grow your plants in.
joy

Joy, I assure it is not collapsing. If you look at the picture of the assembled bucket right above the picture I think you are talking about the "bulge" is hidden due to the camera angle. It is behind the input pipe. The bulge is caused when the ridged edge of the colander overlaps itself to fit the smaller bucket diameter. That why I made "V" cuts in the edge. I am amazed at how ridge the walls of the colander are, I think there is very little chance of it collapsing into itself, Note that the overflow hole ( the drinking straw, marks it path) is lower than the pot mix so only the wick portion of mix is in water.

Gessieviolet: Just got 3 five gallon buckets to clean out and get ready and was wondering about something? What if I used some thin rubber type hose, like used for aquariums and all, instead of the straw, would that work?
joy

Sure, just be sure it stays straight when you fill bucket. Actually this is better than the straw cause it is less likely to deteriorate as it gets older. Can't wait to hear your comments on the buckets and how they work for you.

I'm going to get the chance to test this out very soon-- I had a couple of branches which grew outside of the cage on my Paul Robeson break off today when I tried to stake them up. :o( Right now I have them stuck into fertilized potting mix in a large planter, trying to save them (some of the branches have little 'maters on them). Since I have to make a couple of planters very quickly AND on a budget, this seems like the best option.

gessieviolet, from reading this I see that for each planter, I'll need a 5 gallon bucket, a 7 quart colander, a piece of fill pipe (how long?) and some aquarium tubing or a straw... is that right? Still no Dremel yet, but we have a drill I can use to make the overflow outlet.

I'll also need to get potting mix and cages... and make sure any parts of the plants that grow outside the cages (IF I can save these branches) get staked up ASAP... it was heart-wrenching to see these branches break off right in front of me!

liannenc, sorry about the break. You are right on the equipment you need. Cut the pipe whatever length that will let it protrude just above the bucket lid that is convenient for watering. Cut the bottom of pipe at an angle so it doesn't lie flat against the bucket bottom and make pouring water slower.

i feel your pain on the break. The other morning I was sitting in one of those plastic type chairs working in my garden, the ground was wet and my weight made the rear legs of the chair sink into the ground, pitching me backward onto a plant I had been carefully babying for 2 weeks! I floundered like a beached walrus and finally was able to get up, looked around to see if any neighbors had witnessed my humiliation. My poor coleus was smashed flat. I did surround the broken pieces with mulch. Believe it or not, they're growing again.

gessie,thanks for the much needed laugh.
Glad you weren't hurt, sorry about your poor coleus.
Where did you buy your Fafard 3B mixture w/forest products?
Does it come in bags or did you buy it by the truck load?

The Fafard 3B is bagged ( 2.8 cubic feet to a bag). There are several sources around here, each with a different price. I get it at a discount place (Jackson & Perkins) for the best price. All Fafard's mixes are of a different formulation of forest products, in my experience it can't be beat as a container mix. I thought it was costly until I thought to compare prices per cubic foot of material; I get it at a price that compares very favorably with Miracle Gro products, which I like, but find to be a little less fluffy than I like for the self water containers.

No, it's in Greenwood in the old Walmart (I think) bldg on the bypass. And in a senior moment (or two) I incorrectly identified this place. Sorry, It is Jackson & Perkins (the famous rose people) that are now connected with Parks, and Wayside Gdns.

I have used the 2 buckets to see how seedling plants would survive with some neglect, Interestingly through the hottest and driest period of the summer the plants in the two are doing great even though I water them only occasionally. One four o'clock seedlings and the other swiss chard transplants thriving beautifully. Both of these will wilt dramatically if water is insufficient. The wicking seems to be working really well.

Hey, Gessie!
Thanks for the update on your system. I'm gearing up for my fall planting the 1st and 2nd weekends in September. I'm thinking I'll conduct a little experiment of my own between your colandar system and my eCookie design.

I'll make sure to plant seedlings of the exact size and type in one of each system, and water and fertilize exactly the same. I'll place them side x side for sunlight exposure, and otherwise ensure all growing conditions are as duplicate as possible.

Gymgirl: Please keep us posted, as all I'm using this fall is the totes, GPs and EBs and smart pots. I'm saving the 5 gallon buckets for my maters this next Spring; so, that gives plenty of time for me to step back safely and see how ya'll do with it first. LOL
joy

Joy,
After this experiment, I'm gonna decide if I need to switch the mater operation to wider pots/containers. My very first veggie crop was in Spring '07, grown in my brand new EBs. All my vines were humongous indeterminates that produced 'maters that filled the palm of my hand. I had one Black Krim that took EXACTLY 150 days from seed to slicing! I thought I was crazy for waiting so long for a tomato, until I tasted it. Been hooked on the Black Krim's ever since.

But. I have not managed to duplicate that success. Call it beginner's luck, maybe. I grew a Spring '08 crop that gave me moderate success, but nothing like that first season. I'm trying to correct my growing conditions and duplicate Spr '07.

With that said, I think there's either something defective in my double-bucket self-watering system, or there may not be enough LATERAL space in a 5-gallon bucket to accommodate the huge root systems my indeterminates grow. I examined each root system when I ripped them, and those roots spread more wide than deep. The original EBs accommodate the lateral spread, whereas a 5-gallon bucket does not have much lateral spread at all. As I recall, one root system I yanked spread almost 15" laterally, while it wasn't very deep at all.

I think this is an important consideration, and I'll be exploring the use of a wider (though not necessarily deeper) container in the future. As a matter of fact, as I think of it, I actually have several 24" planters (SamsClub/Costco) that I could try my 'maters in this upcoming season. They are deep as well, about 18". But, planting at approx. the same depth as I would in an EB would put the root spread at around the 18" mark in the planter. Which is certainly more spread space than the 11" available in a 5-gallon bucket.

Linda: I hope you will at least try it and let me know if it works or not before my tomato season, if it doesn't no problem, I haven't wasted money, time and effort into trying to grow my tomatoes in them, if it works, I will save a bunch of time, money and effort. I didn't much care for the square footers for tomatoes for the very reason you stated. The reservoir was full of roots which let me know that the container was not wide enough, it was as deep as the EBs; but not quite as wide and the roots went right into the reservoir soaking up all the water, no wonder they did so badly. The tomatoes also did not do as well in the revolutionary planters either, I used their potting mix and it still caked up on me, or the tomato plant got so huge it would break off, so think it is better I plant peppers or eggplants in them next Spring, which will free up a lot of the EBs for my tomatoes. (smiles).
joy

Gymgirl: And fun too. I've had a great Spring, summer was icky; but, I had a great Spring, since I sprayed all the bugs are gone and now my plants are really thriving again, wished I hadn't of gotten impatient and pulled some of them tomatoes up now. They say patience is a virtue and it's one I need to get for sure. LOL
joy

Yes everyone; please let me know if these are working before February as that is when I will need to know, I plan on planting about 25-30 tomatoes this February and need to know before hand, if it works, I will use them for my maters.
joy

Yes, indeed-- they do work! I planted some cuttings in the ones I made according to Gessieviolet's design (with a LOT of help from my husband, bless him!) and I'm attaching a pic... the bigger plant is Goose Creek, the slightly smaller one is Paul Robeson. Anyway, after I moved the cuttings from the 4 inch pots to the ebuckets, they took off like gangbusters! The Goose Creek is doing especially well-- much better than the original plant did. It's already got about a dozen fruit set on it and I'm looking forward to a decent harvest because I only got about 5 decent ones off the original plant before I had to pull it this past week due to what I think was septoria that I simply could not get under control. I love my Easi-lift bags, but I think next year I'm going to do other veggies in those and make more ebuckets for my 'maters!

I'm posting another pic to show what the ebuckets looked like before we filled them with potting mix. I couldn't find a colander like the one gessieviolet used that was the right size, but the ones I did find (at a Dollar Tree store) apparently work just fine!

It is such a thrill to realize we have come up with something that seems to be working well. I have intentionally neglected my 2 buckets through the roughest part of summer we have had and, believe it or not, the plants are growing well. I have put water in them twice and the rest of the time I have let the rain supply moisture yet they grow. I am looking forward to seriously using them next spring for vegetables.

Confession time: I had a fountain of Rainbow Chard growing up out of a plain five gallon bucket last year, I'll have to see if I can find some photos---

Just a bucket, no colander, no holes to drill, just a bucket. I put sticks and twigs in the bottom for maybe six inches, and some boiled chicken bones from a soup stock. Then another six inches of unfinished, rough compost, then Pro Mix potting soil. I'd give the bucket a whole gallon of water when the Chard drooped, but that's all.

I'm BACK and putting the pedal to the metal! Gotta go with Gessieviolet's design to save time painting my cookies!

I can't find 7 qt. plastic collanders, only 6 quart with slits like in Liannenc's post of her design, and mine cost $TWO dollars apiece!

Question: Is Liannec's collander sitting directly on the bottom of the bucket?
Question: Is the straw being placed level with the bottom of the overturned collander?

Will that be enough of a water reservoir, and, if so, how much water will it hold? I need an adequate reservoir cause my broccoli and cauliflowers just soak up the juice when they get going. LMK soonest.

I picked up 6 collanders yesterday evening. Good part is mine only have ONE handle to cut away.

Ok, it's too late for everyone 2 B in the garden, so somebody check in soon please. I cut my colander handle off and pushed the colander down into my 5 gal bucket. Then I traced a mark around the inside of the bucket where the rim settled in, removed the colander and filled the bucket to see how many gallons of water would come up to the mark. I believe it was 1.5 gal, but hard to tell since I had grabbed one of my original eBuckets with an overflow hole in it. I sopped up about .25 gal of water. Ya'll can stop laughing now...

Gymgirl: I love the design I'm doing on the kitty litter buckets, I have two of them, the 40 lb Fresh Step bucket and I put the 31 lb Scoop Away bucket inside the Fresh Step, nice size reservoir there, don't know many cat owners though (groan). I also noticed at the dollar tree they have all kinds of containers that would be perfect for making a reservoir for the bottom of buckets, will have to measure them later, not using them this fall, I don't think, but maybe, after buying $41 worth of startings, and you get 9 for $3.99 maybe will have to???? LOL
joy

Don't put any kitty litter in your soil unless it's just plain plain, with no fragrance or anything. Lots of poison in kitty litter!

Other than additives, it's just clay that's mined by strip mining that totally destroys the landscape, and they leave it a big hilly mess. I was amazed when I drove through an area in the South someplace, looked like the End of the World. Whew.

But the buckets are great! I'd like to get some, haha, after that rant???

Question: Is the collander supposed to sit directly on the bottom of the bucket? When I trimmed my handle and pushed the colander down, it wedged itself in place about 6" from the bottom, almost level with the overflow hole already drilled in the bucket. This actually gives me the larger water reservoir I need. LMK, please.

Question: At what level should the straw/overflow hole be placed?

Thanks.

If my colander placement is ok as is, with my overflow hole just below the rim, then it takes me exactly 3 minutes to build a one-bucket system (30 seconds to trim the handle, 1 minute to drill the fill tube hole, and 1.5 minutes to assemble the components).

Linda
No one is upset with you!! I would answer you but I am not sure of the
answers yet. I am planning to make a trip to my doller tree tomorrow
to get the strainers. Then I have 2 different size buckets to try them in.
So I will spend Sat. trying them out and let you know.

Linda, I don't see how you would have a wicking effect below the 6 inch level, if I understand what you are saying.

The soil mix on the sides of the colander wicks the water and your water is lower than you mix isn't it? When the colander touches the bottom of the bucket all the water can be wicked. If the edge of colander wedges against the bucket right above the hole there would be nothing in the colander space as the water would only go to level of the overflow hole, no mix would be in contact with water to act as a wick, would it?

If you moved the overflow hole higher up you would have a wick as long as the water was in contact with the soil mix, but once the water gets lower than the bottom edge of the colander the wicking stops and only if the roots grew down into the water would the water be available to the plant.

And, gymgirl, I would thing to give about one inch of airspace, one inch below the upturned, upside down collander's bottom for your drain hole. Plenty of water for those darned thursty tomatoes. They'll get their roots down into the water quick, I bet!

Or, but, will the roots get stuck going round and round inside the curled edge of the colander's rim? Couldn't hurt to poke a couple of holes there.

Here's what I'm seeing in my drawing below. Please tell me if my design theory for a higher water well is flawed and, if so, where?

If push comes to shove, I can trim the colander to sit on the bottom like ya'll are proposing. Thanks for all your feedback. I have tah outfit these TOMORROW. Got a flat full of cole crop seedlings standing at the ready!

Linda, the water would rise to the top of the colander and as long as there is water
in the actual colander area you are fine. My question is what happens when the
water gets below the colander bottom? There is no mix to draw the water up
into the mix where the plant roots are when the water level is below the colander rim.

My suggestion is to try both ways and see if the extra water makes any difference.

Thanks to God, my handyman was standing on the curb when I pulled up from Church. When it was all over, he had finished filling the raised bed I started, filled the 2nd larger one, sifted my remaining compost, moved the excess soil into the now vacant compost pile, and the excess composted horse manure into a 40 gal container. Then we folded up all the tarps and cleaned up. 4 hours. And while he hauled soil, I retrofitted 6 buckets to the new one-bucket design and filled them with my homemade compost. These will be home to my cabbages, which love organic medium. I believe it took me 1-1/2 hours to construct and fill them, as this was my 1st time. I had to lower the original bucket fill holes to the level of the top of the colander. The straw tipped upward otherwise. And, because I wanted a more centered growing space, I used scissors to cut the fill tube hole into the side of the colander so it sits closer 2 the side of the bucket. It was Sooooooooo nice to be ably to pick up an eBucket by the handle to move it! Then I covered them with their lids and lined em up in the growing area, all ready for seedlings. This is going 2 B a very interesting growing season indeed! My only lament is not finding cheaper colanders. So far each eBucket costs $3 - $2 for the colander and $1 for the bucket lid. I'd like to get that down to $1-1.50/bucket since I estimate using at least 15-25 eBuckets this season. Any suggestions on where to get $1 colanders in Houston would sure be appreciated. Linda

Linda: What are you using for a bucket lid that costs $1 and have you tried the Dollar Tree? And there is a "Dollar Store" here; "General Dollar" has a tendency to charge more than a dollar but the Dollar Tree and Dollar store stay at $1.00, I saw colanders at the Dollar Tree for $1.
joy

Gymgirl: I think I'd be complaining to family dollar and tell them a dollar is a dollar, but that is me. LOL I hope you will keep me posted as to how they work for you, I'm not using any of my ebuckets this fall/winter, as I am waiting for February, they will hold my maters then. That means I have time to see if they work or not by how they work for ya'll. I'm not sure about these smart pots either and hope my first time at that works. I'm using 80% coconut coir, 20% perlite, 2 cups of dolomite lime, 2 cups of 10-10-10 fertilizer and keeping my fingers crossed? I planted about 30 beets in two of the smart pots this evening, they are on the bottom shelf of that shelf I converted over to a table. That way the beets won't get too much sunlight. This will be a first for me with the beets and the smart pots.
joy

Quick, somebody hide my checkbook. I found the $1 colanders @, duh, the Dollar Tree. And I also discovered a box of Licorice Drops called "Crows". I'd seen them on HGTV and thought, "wow, I'm sure glad they don't make those down here...". I going to need an accountability partner! Linda

So funny, I thought I was the only one who goes into one of these stores to buy a dollar item and end up browsing the sweet aisle, and coming out with $5 worth of sweets that kill my type 2 diabetes diet! Notice how easily I rationalize that I don't have to be really careful, it's type 2!! Like I tell my sweetie, "We all gotta..." Don't save me from a medical lecture, either..

Gessie,
I'm not really a candy person, per se, and I don't really have a sweet tooth. However, ZEROES and licorice are my weaknesses. Since most of the local supermarkets do not carry the Zeroes (the highway convenience stores do), I was pretty safe, until I discovered the Crows in the same place I'll be visiting for the colanders! :-{

Planted broccoli seedlings today in colander eBuckets. Challenge is cutting fill tube holes in the colander close 2 the side of the bucket 2 give plants most space. Gonna need some duck tape 2 close a few spaces! Otherwise, construction is a piece 'a cake. More planting tomorrow. Time will tell how well they work!

Linda the fill pipe doesn't have to go straight up. Put it in the hole in colander and lean it toward side of bucket, Even with a few degree angle you should be able to fill with no problem. The mix will hold it in place/

Hey, Gessie,
I got 7 eBuckets planted Saturday, and EARLY Sunday morning before church, I managed to outfit another 11 standing at the ready for soil and plants. This is kinda cool.

Only lost one broccoli seedling so far to what I suspect is a cutworm. The seedling was simply cut in two at the soil line. I stood forever digging through the bucket but I couldn't find it. So, planted a cauliflower seedling, only this time I REMEMBERED to put something around the stem to thwart the cutworm. I used a strip of aluminum foil. Usually I just slice a straw and wrap around the stem. Checked this morning and all were still standing.

Gessie! After cutting a few colanders, I got the hang of angling the cuts so the tubes lean toward the side. Also, got the standard height for drainage holes (mine are 4" from the bottom of the bucket and colanders). My reservoir holds 1 gallon + 40 ounces of water.

Gymgirl: You go girl, and make sure you keep us posted about how they are doing ok? I'll be copycatting you this Spring if this idea works, as I can switch the 5 gallon buckets I used this last Spring into the new ones giving me twice as many.
joy

Linda, I'm so sorry I didn't see your questions until now... my notifications got turned off or something! It's probably too late to do you any good, but just for the sake of anyone else who might need the info-- the colanders I used *did* sit right on the bottom of the bucket-- after I cut off the handles they were small enough to go all the way to the bottom without my having to cut slits in them to make them overlap. As for the straw (we used aquarium tubing), my hubby did that part of it. He put it right at the very top of the colander (which is actually the base of the colander when you've put it in the bucket), eyeballed where to drill the hole in the bucket then fed it through slit in the side of the colander to sit just underneath the base of it (which is the top of the "reservoir"). He used a bit of duct tape to hold it in place because we were afraid when we started loading potting mix in, the tube would move. It worked just fine after being taped in place.

My 'maters in these did SO much better than the ones in the grow bags that I'm definitely using the buckets for all my 'maters next year... I'll just have to sweet-talk hubby into helping me make a bunch more!

Hi Liannenc! Been away for awhile. No good news 2 report. Everything I've planted so far has either died or been killed in my eBuckets. I believe it's all this rain and high heat we're having, not the buckets themselves. Have one more round of seedlings to put out and a cool front moving thru this weekend, so maybe better results possible. If these fail it's the end of my season. Already over $$$ for this season. Will keep ya'll posted on progress. Also, I did my drain holes the same way, but no tape. Might go back and anchor with tape on outside of bucket hole. Linda

If the rain is overfilling, or making the soil too wet, I saw someplace on the Earthbox site that the reason they use black plastic to cover the soil in Earthboxes is because of rain, to keep out the extra water.

Linda: Don't feel bad girl, I've lost half my broccoli and cauliflower already and I just planted them, and in earthboxes too, can't believe it. My spinach looks terrible, my lettuce is doing fine in the earthboxes and my beets in the smart pots are doing great, so are the onions. My cabbage is looking a little ill also, that is surely different from last time, remember I planted the cabbage late and still came out huge? They keep dying on me. I just got my dwarf pomegrante tree in and got it planted into a self watering 18 gallon tote and it looks good. I think this is the last time I am gonna try spinach, never had luck with it, and I bought the plants this time. Guess my neighbor was right, I should have planted collards, mustard greens and turnips; but my daughter doesn't like them, my neighbors do though. LOL
joy

Garden Glory: I think the cold weather here will stay this time, it's down to 40 degrees already, yikes. My dwarf pomegrante is ok down to 20 degrees and I think everything else to about 30 degrees? I've never had a fall/winter garden before. I'm not worried too much about the onions and cabbage. But the beets, spinach (I think I got one of them left?), broccoli and cauliflower and lettuce I'm not sure about? Should I be thinking about row covers or something?
joy

Joy, my beets, carrots and turnips did fine through our mild winter temps, all the way down 2 an occasional 35-32 degrees. The broccoli, cauliflower, and cabbages were ok down to the low 40s. Lower than that might need a blanket overnight to protect the leaves. A tip I learned is to hose down the veggies before an expected mild frost to protect them. Strange, huh? Google this just 2 doublecheck the info. The Cole crops are VERY forgiving of the cold, which is why it's such a great growing season! Your mustards are more tender than the collards, but both do great down 2 the mid 40s. Any lower, protect overnight with some cover. I did hose my greens down one night B4 a freeze down 2 30-28, and they were fine the next morning. If I'm wrong on this others please correct me now! Thx.

Gymgirl: Thanks, don't know how they will fare this November, I'm taking a vacation of sorts for about a week, heading into Boca Bob's and TPlant's territory for some turkey with some friends and my birthday party. LOL And need I mention a little warmth. LOL It's cold in the mornings here and in the evenings; but still a little warm during the day.
joy

COLANDER eBucket Update:
I'm planting all my broccoli, cauliflowers and cabbages in these modified colander eBuckets, which incorporates using an overturned colander in the bottom of each bucket to form a wick. A drain hole was drilled through the bucket, parallel to and approximately 1/2" below the top of of the colander. I drilled the hole completely through the bucket and through the colander at that level, and inserted a regular drinking straw through the drilled hole. The straw goes in slightly underneath the top of the colander.

Now the potting mix is packed TIGHTLY around the edges of the colander, just up to the top of the colander. Next, I filled the eBucket halfway with potting mix and GENTLY patted it down. I continued filling to within 8" of the bucket rim, again, GENTLY patting down the potting mix. Then I added 6" of rich, homemade compost, leaving a 2" space from the rim (I believe you could fill the top even with the rim, but I have a problem washing away potting mix -- the xtra space helps). Finally, I situated the plant in the very center of the bucket and watered from the top until the potting mix settled and the overflow began running out of the drain straw (the straw keeps the potting mix from clogging the overflow hole). Then, I covered the eBucket with the lid that fits over the fill tube.

So far, the 6 cabbages and broccolis I planted Saturday are taking off like weeds! And I didn't even add any fertilizer! (I'll only be adding bloodmeal for nitrogen...)

Evidently, this new design is providing a much better wicking system than the others I've tried. I'll post pics on Saturday.

Did you get them from home depot joy...or someone else. I have GOT to start making my buckets now, or another year is going to pass me by. I need to order my tomato seeds too. I need to be ready this year, not just thinking about it.

Joy, have you thought to check a 6 qt by putting it into a bucket. It may work without any trimming being needed. Or you could measure your bucket opening (is it 12 inches for example?) A long as the colander sits inside without a lot of extra space it should work fine. A 6 qt size would still hold almost 1 1/2 gallons of water if the outlet straw is almost at the top (well, bottom) of the colander in the bucket.

Joy I'm up to 16 eBuckets of cabbages, cauliflower, n broccolis (mostly cabbages). Still have 4 cabbages and a flat of broccolis 2 set out. It's LABOR intensive, but I expect a good DELIVERY! I'll sow seeds in de 2 raised beds next weekend, and put the collards n mustards in my EBs. I wore myself out yesterday, but I can see my progress! Planting something evry weekend til Dec 1. Here's a pic!

Last night I cut holes in bucket lids and on my lunch hour today, I'll cut holes in the colanders. I hate having to stop on my plant out day to prep the colander eBuckets, so I'm compiling my components beforehand. I think I already have enough fill tubes cut with holes in them.

When I get home, I'll spend time sifting some of the "Rose mix" I bought, because it does have quite a few small sticks in it. Other than that, it's pretty fast draining stuff. I'm using 2/3 of the "Rose mix" and 1/3 homemade compost in each eBucket. I water down at the 1/2 and 2/3 fill points.

At the 2/3 fill point, I add 1 Tbsp Bloodmeal (approximately 6" from the rim), and cover the bloodmeal with a 3-4" layer of homemade compost. Then I apply two cups of 13-13-13 in a trench ring-around-the-bucket, and gently water in. I've learned that watering in at the halfway mark helps the water drain faster after the bucket is completely filled and watered in. Otherwise you sit and wait forever for the water to drain all the way through.

The leafy plants seem to love the bloodmeal addition, and I can already see evidence of greening up and strong leaf growth.

I'd like to plant more broccolis & cabbages and sow seeds for cauliflowers, turnips, beets, carrots, lettuce and onions tomorrow.

Garden Glory and Gymgirl: Beautiful job, I'm sold now on the idea. Gymgirl: Thanks for your recipe of success too, I have been watering twice too, when I start to fill the buckets and EBs. Do you use the bloodmeal for everything? Is that instead of dolomite? I'll be using a 70% coconut coir, 30% perlite, mixing in 3 cups of dolomite lime and placing a ring of fertilizer around the top of the bucket, in a trench, in knee high panty hose tied at the end. I will then soak it really well. I will probably use my compost tea to water with at first, for maters anyways and that will be this Spring/Summer, not using e buckets this fall/winter.
joy

I finessed cutting the straw and fill tube holes in the colanders, so they're all uniform and the fill tube hole is a fairly snug fit, to avoid excess soil falling through (without much electrical tape!).

[Managed to slice through the tip of my index finger with my utility knife, whacking off a piece of that electrical tape...this makes two disabled fingers on one hand. Did a cowboy trick and sucked blood so no poison would enter my system (oops -- that's for rattlers...) Bandaged it, wore a rubber glove, kept working...]

Became thoroughly disgusted with all the WOOD CHIPS and SMALL BRANCHES in my purchased Rose blend veggie growers mix (from Living Earth), so I SIFTED about 8 bucketsful and ended up with enough fine stuff to fill the six buckets. Used my homemade compost to fill the top 6" of each bucket. I like sifted soil...

All in all, I have one critical observation regarding eBucket gardening. It is labor intensive, in the beginning, to outfit and fill all those buckets, especially if you DO have a day job. However, I know that after they're all up and cranking out the good stuff, I and my sore body will forget how much work went into filling all those buckets.

The good part is knowing that I won't have to refill them all again for the next several seasons! I'll simply refresh the top layer of my homemade compost! Now THAT'S what I'm talkin' 'bout! And, the portability makes following the sun so much simpler!

We had temps in the mid-40's last night and all 6 of my newly planted broccoli seedlings took quite a hit. Don't know if they'll make it. Should've thought about the fact that they were already stressed from the transplanting, and were suseptible to the cold at this point.

Everyone: I bought 5 gallon buckets very reasonable at Home Depot. I bought them in lots of 5 and 20 buckets only cost me $36, they delivered them right to the door. Now, the 3 1/2 gallon buckets is another story. I bought 24 of them from Lowes and talked the manager down in the Paint section to $3 a bucket, since I was buying them in bulk. I'm using a lot of self watering buckets this Spirng/Summer.
joy

Maybe try using a black plastic flower pot, the cheap ones you buy little azaleas or something in? Fit the pot upside down in the bucket, and cut your holes to the right height. If the pot is too tall, not enough soil, trim the pot.

Plenty of wicking soil goes down the side of the pot. Laid a bunch of little sticks on the hole in the bottom of the pot.

Seems to be working for me, only one so far, with basil that went from drowning to too dry then back to me drowning the poor things! I'll have photos in a week, let the basils grow a bit to show how happy they are.

I was putting the 3 1/2 gallon bucket inside the 5 gallon one, drilling two holes the bottom of the 3 1/2 gallon buckets for the pond basket (used for my wicking device) and one for the 3/4" PVC pipe that I'm using for my water fill tube, then I had drilled holes all over the bottom of the 3 1/2 gallon bucket inserted it inside the 5 gallon one, then drilled my drain hole through both buckets. I later switched up and used the 5 gallon bucket to insert inside the 3 1/2 gallon one, as the buckets from Home Depot are easier to drill holes in then the 3 1/2 gallon ones from Lowes. Either way and both systems have a huge reservoir. I have 31 thus far, just need 20 more for my plans to plant 50 tomatoes in this Spring/Summer (smile).
joy

Molamola: No dearie, go online to home depot and look up in the search slot -
"five gallon buckets" then go to where they sell them in lots of 4 and you will see that you will only wind up paying about $1.50 each, the S and H will probably be zilch.

I do have a question though, how far apart should I place the buckets since they will be indeterminate varieties and huge ones at that? I got the space, so want to make sure I don't crowd none of them.
?

A little cafe had put up three posts in a row, 8' apart, and nailed on lattice between. I asked if I could plant something there, and planted one Sweet Million tomato.

There was perfect rain, unlimited root room under the nearby deck. That one tomato spread, with my guidance, all along the lattice work, eight feet either side of the middle, and on up to the top, about six feet high. The multitude of vines would grow up and up, then fall over, gently, and I'd let them droop to the ground before weaving the stems back up through the latticework. Up and down, all season.

From one stem, the size of my little finger, came hundreds and hundreds of cherry tomatoes. Toward the end of the season here, which is too hot summer nights and no fruit set, the plant started getting bugs really bad, but just on one side by the building.

When I finally cut it down, it filled my pickup truck bed to heaping.

Wish I had a camera back then.

For your buckets, I'd build some sort of fence or something, tomatoes are a vine that likes to lean, sprawl over things.

Joy, I'll go look at Home Depot, thanks. But that's probably only Continental USA. I'll come back if I do get a price! Thanks.

Molamola: I'll bet you would have had some really nice pics if you would have had a camera back then. A friend of mine showed me how to pinch the tops which forces the plant to spread out instead of up; but, I've had varied opinions of how far apart to space the buckets. Some say 3 ft, some say 2 ft and a few have said a foot and a half. They will definately need a staking system though, as most are indeterminate types and beefsteak types. I'm copying Cyrus' method of the wooden staking system all round the buckets. I got 100 one gallon bags from Boca Bob to grow 100 tomatoes in and I will do that in the green house, using all my seeds started in his seed starting kits, then they will be transferred over to the gallon bags, which I will then give about 50 away and the other 50 will get transferred into the buckets.
joy

Molamola: All I have planted right now is cabbages, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries, a dwarf pomegrante, lettuce and in January potatoes. I'm just missing Spring gardening and preparing for it now. LOL It's been 40 degrees here lately and raining like crazy. I live in the coldest city in FL. LOL
YSIC
Joyce

Question to ponder: I noticed that when I made the buckets using a five gallon bucket and 3 1/2 gallon bucket and the pond basket for a wicking device, the pond basket doesn't quite reach the bottom of the bottom bucket, there is about and inch or inch and a half space below the bottom of the wicking device to the bottom of the bottom bucket, will it make much a difference? That will leave an inch or so of water under the bottom of the wicking device with water totally filling up the wicking device. What is a wicking device for anyways?
joy

Joy, if I understand your observation correctly, you simply have about an inch to inch and half of water that will never be drawn into the medium in the bucket because it simply has no way of getting up there. The wicking device (your pond basket) simply holds the part of the mix that is always in water to create the upward draw. My question: Why does the pond basket not sit on the bottom of the 5 gallon bucket, will the 3 1/2 gallon bucket not fit completely inside the larger bucket?

Gessie violet: The reservoir for the combination of the 3 1/2 gallon/5 gallon bucket design is bigger than the one for the 5 gallon/5 gallon bucket design. So the pond basket doesn't quite reach the bottom of the bottom pail. Of couse, in the 5 gallon/5 gallon one, the pond basket wanted to come up aways because it more than reached the bottom of the bottom pail.
joy

Joy it doesn't matte that he pond basket doesn't sit on the bottom of the reservoir bucket. It will sit far enough into the water to wick it up into the soil in your 3-1/2 gal bucket. The wick draws the water up into the soil above, much the same as the wick on a kerocene lamp does.

Gymgirl: Whew, thanks, hearing that from you makes me feel better. I've been working on plans to build a staking system around the buckets but, still haven't figured out how far to space them from one another, most the buckets will have the beefsteaks in them and I will be pinching the tops to make them spread out instead of up so much. How far do you think I should put them?
joy

Hey Guys!
An eBucket update: Today I peeked under the sheets protecting my cole crops from our Houston deep freeze, and all the cabbages look like they've grown about a 1/3 in size since the temps dropped! They've been covered over with a sheet since last weekend. Also, I had just fed them last Saturday.

Don't bother showing my pics! I learned all this from the good folks on the Winter Sowing forum. There's a whole forum talking about this. People are already in gear with these jugs. They're working like mini-greenhouses. The seeds come up when they know it's time to, and are protected with the warmth the jugs collect during the day. They get sunshine, and the rain waters them, and the drainage holes in the bottoms keep the jugs from getting waterlogged.

I have 6 jugs of bell peppers inside that have germinated already in 8 days! I have to keep em under lights for now till they get true leaves, but then they're going outside with the rest of the family!

LOL Yup that's what it is. You should try it. I guarantee you'll like it. I only have grown a few plants last year. I just sliced it thin and added it to salads and soups. But they are very versatile and tasty. Here's a little more info about them...

I'll be SURE to let you know if I like it or not. But, since I eat most all of the greens, I'm pretty sure I'll like it. Although, I've not developed a taste for Swiss Chard, yet. I think I'm picking it too late, when the leaves are too big and bitter. I'm trying to get with this "baby" leaf thing!

Mark to told me to head here and look at the KOHLRABI you are growing. As of late I have been pimping (Mark's term) kohlrabi everywhere and giving away seed packets to family and friends. I'm San Diego's Kohlrabi Fairy.

I hope you'll like it as much as I do. Great eaten fresh (like turnips), and awesome cooked as well. Stir-fry both leaves and bulbs (not sure if that's what they are called) and in soups.

Pet thanks 4 de Bday wishes! I'm gonna need some kohlrabi recipes, especially re eating them raw like turnips. Never ate a turnip raw. Always cooked the diced turnips and the green tops with mustards, collards, spinach, ham hocks, and chopped onions n bell pepper overnight n de slow cooker. How do you eat a raw turnip? What size should I eat the kohlrabi? I'm used to picking BIG mustard n collard leaves cause of how I cook em. LMK cause de kohlrabi bulb will reach a 2"-2.5" diameter in de next 2 weeks. How long a growing season 4 de kohlrabi? Same as de cabbages? Will bolt when temps go too high?
You didn't xpect all this from a bday wish, huh?

Directions:
Brown chicken pieces in oil; move to the side of the skillet to saute garlic until golden, ginger until fragrant, onions until translucent.
Add chicken or vegetable stock, simmer covered until chicken cooks (10-15 minutes). Add kohlrabi and cook for another 2-3 minutes.
Serve over steamed rice.

Hey Joy!
Great to hear you're getting others sold on our system! It really, really works! This is a pic I snapped today out in the yard.

I had surgery on my left index finger, and it's stitched right at the knuckle. I've been outta commission since Thursday, and it's killing me 'cause I soooooooooooooo wanted to be playing in the dirt with this long weekend we've had.

But, I'm being good, and only did light duty clean up at my concrete launching pad today. I moved slowly, cause soon as I'd forget and reach for something I could feel those sutures pulling!

Here's what the launching pad looked like today. Enjoy!

^^_^^_^^ (you 'n me doing the happy dance that there're gonna be home-grown tomatoes at the church picnic)

Linda: Good job, and I know that wasn't easy with the finger throbbing. I'm really looking forward to everyone working together on growing tomatoes in buckets this season, what's more, is we have a lady in my Bible study class that knows all about canning, so we're planning on doing that together too, with her teaching us how. She actually pickles okra too, never tried that but it sounds good.
joy

Hi, everyone.
I just discovered this thread (actually, linked from the other thread that gessieviolet started).

It seems I'm constantly discovering new & interesting threads! I'm about to spend some time in the one Gymgirl started on Winter Sowing as well.

Anyway, even though it's getting a little late in the season (our Spring has been about as odd as they come!), I think I may do a little experimenting with the home made eBucket concept.

I didn't get through all the posts yet, but I thought I might stick in my two-cents-worth on other places to get Five Gallon Buckets & Colanders for very cheap or even FREE.

1) Garage Sales (colanders)

2) Good Will, Salvation Army or other thrift stores (mostly colanders or small containers)

3) Dairy Queen or other Ice Cream stores -
They use plain white 5-gallon buckets for things like their Strawberry Toppings. We've gotten them over the years for anywhere from Free to 50-cents each. You will most likely have to wash them out as they usually still have sticky remnants of whatever was in them, but the price is reasonable & they have the lids.

nutsaboutnature, first off, wish I had thought of that handle first! it's great! Welcome to world of the eBucket. It was just a little less than 1 year ago that this thing got started and I for one am thrilled with what has happened. You are going to be surprised I think, glad to have you aboard.

Your suggestions are excellent for sources of supplies. May I copy your suggestions to my personal blog pages that deal with the eBucket, giving you credit, of course.

The white buckets would be a special thing, cause we have to display some kind of logo on all we get elsewhere and heavens knows what colors we gladly accept donations of!

Welcome aboard and keep us posted...we are all learning
Lane Cockrell (Gessieviolet)

Gessieviolet,
Thanks for your quick response & thanks for the
Welcome Mat! I wasn't sure if anyone was still watching this thread.

Of course you can use the ideas I posted! This whole thread has been people sharing ideas, most of them based on your eBuckets idea!

I'll definitely be saving this thread to refer to often. I don't know how much I'll still be planting this year, as far as veggies go, but I'll report any progress if I do.

I have a large yard, but most of it is shady so veggies have been relegated to containers to make the most of the sun they need. I love that there was even mention of indeterminate heirlooms in the eBuckets.

If I come across any other "cheap" sources of materials (I like cheap & I like free even better!) I'll post them.

She-girl!
Welcome to the wonderful and fascinating world of eBuckets! Great post you made, and thanks for "bumping" this thread back to the top!

Now, more newbies will get to explore it!

Hey, Lane!
I'm not sure I'll be growing anything in this next year, due to my transitional status. But, I've got a fistful of brand new seeds on the way, and I'm hoping to at least WS some of my cole crop seeds for a possible plantout in August.

Packing up has been freeing me of some of my excess. Only keeping the absolute essentials. I've decided I can sacrifice buckets if storage becomes a real issue. Don't think I'll have to. But, if so, I can always get more buckets and drill new holes.

Linda, if you are a hoarder of sorts like me, you will find some way to hang onto the buckets (they will stack together) cause you definitely will use them again someday!! And you have already ordered more seeds?? Girl, you will be planting something, it's in the blood.

I do agree, though, hang on to those colanders!! We gardeners always find some way to get our hands in the dirt.

I think of your situation often and hope that the coming year will prove to be a blessing; been there, done that and know for a fact life is what YOU chose to make it.

My husband & I had actually once considered (very briefly) investing in a couple of those outrageously priced rectangle self-watering containers. Then we realized we'd be out of our minds!

This Idea is so simple & the supplies are readily available.

BTW, If I "Bumped" it wasn't intentional cause I don't know how. I've seen where others have done it, but I don't have a clue how it's done.

Sounds like things are tough for you right now. I won't ask cause it's none of my business, but I will wish you luck in all your future endeavors.

Gessieviolet,
Hoarding probably sounds more respectable, but we're a couple of "Pack Rats" & I doubt that it's going to change any time soon. There are too many good things out there that may have a use sometime in the future.

Welcome, Sheila! "Bumping" a thread is just posting on an older thread (in this case from January). Then it shows up near the top of the list when someone looks at the list of threads in a forum. Sometimes, someone will just type "BUMP" instead of typing anything a message.

Gymgirl: The one nice thing about the E-buckets with the colanders is storing them, the two bucket ones tend to stick together if you stack them over a period of time I discovered. Got my good bugs today. Will see if they have any positive affect on the garden.
joy

I've been making these e-buckets for a couple of years and usually put plastic covers on mine. Our Dollar Tree sells ladies shower caps in 12-packs for $1. I "stack" 2 or 3 of them (depending on what I'm growing) and they are a perfect tight fit on the top of the buckets. If you need to slit a huge hole to plant something in, slit one on one side and the next one on the opposite side and then a 3rd in another area and stack them on. They last for the entire growing season and look so much nicer than plastic bags. They are much easier to put on as well. Hope this helps. I'll post this on the other thread as well.

Never in a million years would I have thought about a plastic shower cap!!!! And I just put my hand on a WHOLE bag of those yesterday. I had bought them at the beauty supply house awhile back and misplaced them!!!! And a bunch of

Fantastic idea!! I've been cutting up kitchen can trash bags and taping them with duct tape-- messy, and a pain in the butt! I can't wait to get to the dollar store or beauty supply store to pick up a bunch of these!